BEUKEMA: Youth hunt is deer to local girl's heart

No one needed to tell sisters Cassie and Paige Myers the early deer season had arrived. The two sisters from West Bloomfield were hunting near Vanderbilt when Cassie shot a buck during the recent youth hunt. Paige took a ten point last year. Both girls aren’t new to deer hunting.

This was 11-year-old Cassie’s first buck. And not just a buck but a really nice 8-point. Both sisters were hunting from ground blinds on their grandfathers property using a 22/250 rifle.

In the blind with Cassie was her dad Tim who had introduced both daughters to hunting. “I went through hunters safety before I started hunting,” Cassie said.

She explained that “she could here the deer before seeing him. First a four point came in and a coyote chased it away. Then the big deer walked in and was eating at the edge of the field. It took me a long time to shoot because I was shaking too bad. My dad said that is a big deer.

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“I saw him the day before. I got him on the last day with just 30 minutes left of daylight,” she said.

Cassie says she didn’t feel the kick of the scoped rifle. “I was under so much pressure and a million things were running through my mind,” the 7th grader at Walnut Creek Middle School said.

Hunting in a nearby blind was her 14-year-old sister Paige, a freshman at Walled Lake Central. This was Paige’s third year of hunting, having taken two bucks the last two years.

Like her sister, Paige began hunting with her dad and granddad. “The whole family hunts and has been for a long time,” she said.

Paige says they always scout the area on her grandfather’s farm where they intend to hunt. “We look for footprints and anything else that would show they are there,” she said.

Both the sisters enjoy dancing as hobbies. “I like tap, jazz and ballet. Cassie likes tap and jazz. I also like to ride horses,” Paige said.

Being a girl in a largely guy sport doesn’t concern either girl. “Some of my guy friends are jealous,” Paige said. “The boys that hunt at my school were jealous too,” Cassie said

Notebook

There are still a few openings left for the 2012 Fall Walleye Education Weekend presented by Walleye-101 and Lance Valentine.

This is a great chance to catch a fish of a lifetime as large fish-and those eaters-congregate in Lake Erie near the Huron, Ohio area to feed prior to winter.

According to Valentine, “Fall fish are fat, hungry and easy to catch with the right information. Let us show you how to catch these giant eyes. Check out the trip details and sign up information for our Fall Walleye Education Weekend in Huron, Ohio.”

Payment information, directions, lure list and other details for the fall Walleye Education Weekend is now available online at Fall Trip Details!

Use the information on the page to link to trip details, lure list and information you will need for the trip.

If you need tackle, lures, line, lake maps or any other equipment for the trip, remember we have opened the Fishing Education Center tackle store and are completely stocked with everything you need to be successful in Huron this fall including Reef Runners at a great price for attendees!

We are planning a pre-trip meeting to cover all the details of the trip, the fishing, tackle and techniques. The meeting will be held Tuesday October 23rd at 6:30 pm at the Fishing Education Center. For more information or directions visit www.walleye101.com.

Regarding Smith’s new dvd, “Walking With Whitetails,” he reports a glitch with his website during the past week.

“We are back up and running. Everything is going smoothly and I apologize to anyone who had difficulty last week,” Smith said.

For you successful bear hunters, the DNR reminds you to call ahead to registration stations before registering your bear to be sure staff are available to register and seal a bear.

There are more than 75 bear registration stations open throughout the state for mandatory bear registration during the bear hunting season.

However, due to department staffing limitations, it is important for hunters to call ahead and, in some cases, make an appointment to register a bear if they will be taking it to a DNR office for registration.

The list of bear registration stations is available in the 2012 Bear Hunting Digest, which is available at DNR Operations Service Centers and from license vendors, or online at www.michigan.gov/hunting. Registration stations that require an appointment are marked with an asterisk.

The data collected at bear registration stations is used to estimate the bear population. This data also helps DNR wildlife staff make recommendations on hunting season structure and license quotas.

Roger Beukema writes a weekly outdoors column for Journal Register Newspapers. Email him at dutchbeukema@comcast.net and read his blog at theoaklandpress.com.